Dave T. mentioned that both Facebook and Apple are locating data centers in Prineville, in eastern Oregon [1]. Dave’s comment: “This shows that even IT folk might be able to find jobs in The American Redoubt [2] area, and makes me wonder if survivability factors into these companies’ desire to locate there, along with considerations like inexpensive power, inexpensive land and tax incentives.” JWR Adds: Both Oregon and Washington have implemented special tax incentives [3] to lure new data centers. Both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Rackspace are building data centers in Morrow, Oregon [4], and Google set up one of theirs an hour’s drive down river in The Dalles. Sabey Corporation’s new data center [5] is in Quincy, Washington. (Quincy is east of the Cascades, between Ellensburg and Moses Lake.) Dell Computer also built a data center in Quincy. All of these data centers utilize very inexpensive hydroelectric power from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Depending on volume, big commercial customers pay as little as 4 cents per kilowatt hour. There are many other advantages to setting up shop in The Redoubt: Low crime rates, low labor costs, unobtrusive governments, geological stability, geographic isolation from urban risks (such as rioting, copper wiring thefts, and vandalism), relatively mild weather, a strong work ethic, reduced workman’s compensation claims, low cost of living for employees, et cetera.
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Drought forecast for Southwest, California ‘not optimistic’ [6]. (Thanks to C.D.V. for the link.)
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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson [7] sent this amazing aurora video: Celestial Lights [8]
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I noticed that the layout of The Apartment Prepper’s Blog [9] has been revamped. You’ll find some very useful info there.
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James C. pointed me to an interesting interview: Secrets of Survival with Joel Skousen [10]. He describes in detail his excellent book Strategic Relocation–North American Guide to Safe Places [11]. His comments on the perils of relocating overseas begin at the 19:45 mark.